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STEROLS OF THE HETEROTROPHIC DINOFLAGELLATE, PFIESTERIA PISCICIDA (DINOPHYCEAE): IS THERE A LIPID BIOMARKER?
Citation:
Leblond, J. D. AND P J. Chapman. STEROLS OF THE HETEROTROPHIC DINOFLAGELLATE, PFIESTERIA PISCICIDA (DINOPHYCEAE): IS THERE A LIPID BIOMARKER? JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY 40(1):104-111, (2004).
Impact/Purpose:
In this work we present the sterol composition of P. piscicida and comment upon whether such a biomarker exists.
Description:
Within United States waters, blooms of the dinoflagellate, Pfiesteria piscicida, have been recorded on an almost regular basis in the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding mid-Atlantic regions for the last two decades. Despite the apparent significance of such blooms to the environment and human health, and the attendant economic consequences, little work has addressed the physiology and biochemistry, particularly that of sterol composition, of P. piscicida. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) characterization of trimethylsilyl ether derivatives of sterols from free sterol and sterol ester fractions was performed in an effort to determine whether P. piscicida produces unique sterols that may serve as potential biomarkers. This characterization revealed that, like most dinoflagellates, the majority of sterols was present as free sterols. Furthermore, the profile of free sterols was found to resemble those of photosynthetic dinoflagellates, with the dominant compound being the previously reported dinoflagellate sterol, dinosterol. A number of other 4a-methyl-substituted sterols and steroidal ketones common to other dinoflagellates were also identified. No strong candidate(s) for a unique sterol biomarker was present.